Say Goodnight, Not Goodbye
by capesidebabe
Summary: what happens after the season finale when old loves return and new friendships emerge. R&R! Chapters 13 up now!
1. Never Had a Dream Come True

**Chapter 1: Never Had a Dream Come True**

Dawson leans over in his bed, and sets his alarm clock for 5:00 a.m. He knows he has a busy day ahead. Tomorrow he has to meet with Spielberg to finalize the plans for the movie they are co-directing based on Dawson's show, The Creek. As he falls back into his bed, we see a picture of him and Joey taken the day of there junior prom. He sighs. He puts his head back on his pillow, but doesn't close his eyes. He tilts his head and stares at the picture on his night table again. Finally, he sighs again. We see his eyes close slowly, and he falls asleep. Inside his mind he thinks back to the night where he seemed to have it all...

_Dawson walks onto his front porch, and opens the door to his house. He doesn't really want to go in, but he knows reality is facing him outside. Walking up the stairs, he reflects on his mistake: kissing Jen. It seems that ever since Jen has arrived, he forgot about his first true love, Joey Potter. _

_He enters his room. Dawson carelessly throws his jacket on his bed and walks toward his closet. Sadly, he opens the door to see Joey sitting on the floor of his closet. _

"_Joey! Oh my God! I've been looking all over for you! _

_Joey stands up and climbs out of the closet with her classic scowl on her face. Dawson turns to her, prepared to speak_

"_Look, there's nothing going on between Jen and me. What you saw today was completely innocent. _

_Joey's eyebrows scowl again._

"_Look, you don't have to explain to me Dawson." _

_Dawson tries to Explain. "Yes I do."_

_Joey throws her hands up in the air, as she says, "Why? Why do you feel the need to explain? We're just friends. That's all."_

_Dawson is hurt by this. _

"_Joey, c'mon you know that's not true." _

_Frustrated, she responds. _

"_So what are we Dawson?" Joey doesn't give Dawson time to answer. She walks to the center of his bedroom. "You know, I am so tired of the way we relate to one another. We spend all of our time analyzing our sad little adolescent lives." _

"_I know we know too many big words. But it's a good thing to analyze."_

_This is the final straw for Joey. "But it doesn't get us anywhere. It doesn't move us forward. We're in the same place we were three months ago. It's time to grow up Dawson."_

"_I know, Joey. We can. We are growing up."_

_Joey sighed. _

"_But were not. Everyday we watch a movie, preferably a Spielberg film, find the appropriate life correlation and then we pat ourselves on the back for being so clever. You know, as much as our perception is right on, our honesty is severely lacking Dawson."_

_Dawson chuckles. "There is something lacking."_

_Joey doesn't find the humor in this. "And the reason I came here tonight is because...we need to move on. Look, we're not kids anymore. And I'm not going to do this anymore and I thought you should know. So…"_

_Joey doesn't want to finish her sentence. She just wants to get out of there. She starts to walk away toward Dawson's window. As she puts one foot out onto the roof, she is ready to climb down the ladder for the last time. _

_Dawson doesn't want her to leave. _

"_So are you going to France?" _

_Joey stops and turns around. _

"_Are you? _

_Dawson walks over to her as she sits on the windowsill. He hopes to keep her there, knowing if she leaves, she may never come back. _

"_Look, I am tired of all the drama in my life right now Dawson. And leaving  
town just makes the most sense to me so..." _

"_No, it doesn't." _

_Why should I stay?" Joey asks, angry at Dawson. "Is there some new release at the video store I don't know about? It's time to grow up Dawson."_

"_Well then we'll do it together. Joey, I could grow up give me a chance. Even Spielberg outgrew his Peter Pan syndrome."_

_Now it's Joey's turn to chuckle. "I could have told you that months ago, Dawson."_

_Joey leans out the window again. _

"_You did." _

_Joey turns back towards him and looks down. _

"_Yeah," she whispers softly. _

_Dawson smiles._

_Dawson, I'm so tired of dancing around these big words. I just want to be honest with you."_

"_Me too. Joe, more than anything, I just want to be honest." _

"_Do you think we're ready for that honesty?" she asks, not knowing if she is ready for the answer. _

"_Yeah I do." _

"_Are you sure?" Joey asks again. "Because honesty is a big word and it changes things and it complicates things. Are you sure you're ready for all the things that comes along with telling the truth?" _

_Joey looks at Dawson and she becomes hurt. Dawson realizes what he's done. _

"_I'll see ya Dawson."_

_As she leaves, Dawson pauses. Suddenly everything before him seems to be in slow motion. He doesn't want Joey to leave, so he yells out._

"_Joey! Joey!" _

_Dawson runs after Joey and grabs her arm to turn her around. He leans in to kiss her. They look at each other and kiss again. She wraps her arms around his neck and he wraps his arms around her waist. _

Dawson jumps up, startled. He looks at the clock, and realized he had been sleeping for a couple of hours.

"It was only a dream. Only a dream."

He folds his arms behind his head and leans back on his pillow.

"But she is with Pacey now," his mutters to himself, trying to admit the fact he lost the only girl he ever loved.

Dawson starts to close his eyes, but suddenly he awakes at the sound of his palm pilot beeping from the other side of his room. He gets out of bed, goes over to his desk. Dawson opens up the case, and reads the words on the screen. It says 'Joey Potter's Birthday.' Dawson set this so he wouldn't forget to call her. He realizes it is now 12:01.

He walks back over to his bed, and manages to make himself comfortable. He tries to get at least a couple of hours of sleep before his meeting.

At last, we see Dawson looking at the picture of him and Joey again.

"Happy Birthday, Joey."

_(Scene: Joey Potter's old bedroom in her sister's house..)_

Joey Potter turns over in her bed. She rolls over to far and falls off the bed. She tries to get up, but keeps tripping.

"God, can't I sleep normally for one night."

She finally manages to stand up, pulls the blanket off her, and puts it on the bed. As she sits on the edge of her bed, she sees her clock. It reads 12:02.

"Wow, I have been 27 for two minutes."

Next to her bed, on her night table, there are two pictures. One of her boyfriend, Pacey, and one of her and Dawson taken the day of there junior prom. Joey sighs.

"I miss you, Dawson," she says to herself.

She picks up the picture and countinues to talk to herself.

"I haven't seen you in such a long time."

She places the picture back on her night table, and slides herself into bed. As she pulls the covers up, she takes one last glance at the picture. Finally, Joey closes her eyes. She tries hard to sleep, but keeps thinking back…

_Joey is sitting on Dawson's windowsill. She looks outside, ready to leave. _

"_I'll see ya Dawson."_

_As she starts to leaves, she wonders. She really doesn't want to, but she cannot stay in the bedroom of the man she finally relizes she loves any longer._

"_Joey! Joey!"_

_She turns around to see Dawson coming toward her. He grabs her arm, and leans in to kiss her. They stand there in front of the window, kissing._

_Joey breaks the kiss._

"_What was that?" she asks._

_Dawson looks at her in a daze. _

_Joey smiles and giggles. "You kissed me," she says. _

_Dawson backs off a little. He smiles. "I know," he responds._

_Joey goes to sit on Dawson's bed. She thinks over the events of the last five minutes. Dawson joins her._

"_So?" he says. _

_Joey looks at him, but this time is not smiling._

"_Well that was a kiss." _

_Dawson stands up, and walks over to the window. "So now what?" he asks._

_Joey sighs and leans back on his bed. "I don't know."_

"_Me either." _

"_Well, uh, maybe we could…" Joey says as she sits up again._

_Dawson walks over and sits on the bed. _

"_What?" he asks. _

"_Nothing."_

"_No, no, you were going to say something. What were you going to  
say? Dawson asks, now curious. _

_Joey stands up. "Nothing, I mean, I don't know. I don't know what I was going to say."_

_Dawson stands up besides, now more confused then ever._

"_You were going to say we shouldn't have done that. I mean, that's  
what you're thinking, right? _

_Joey becomes frustrated. "Actually, Dawson, I don't have a thought in my head now. But apparently, that's what you're thinking so…" _

_Dawson doesn't want her to leave, again. He tries to make her stay._

"_No, no, I..." _

_Joey tries to be rational. "Look. Why don't we sleep on it? _

_Dawson looks at her, then his bed._

_Joey tilts her head and frowns. "Not together! I mean, YOU in your bed and me in mine." _

"_Right, right, uh, absolutely. Obviously. We'll sleep on it, wake up, and this will all be a dream," Dawson responds as he suddenly becomes uncomfortable again._

_Joey is now really upset. She throws her hands up in the air. _

"_You mean like it never happened?" _

"_Is that what you want?" he asks._

_Joey sighs. "Okay, poof! Didn't happen, Dawson. See ya later." _

_She starts climbing out the window _

_Dawson calls after her again. _

"_Joey! Joey!" _

_He runs to the window and pulls her by the arm back inside. _

"_Don't even think about climbing out that window." _

_Joey smiles and they kiss again. _

Joey rolls over in her bed, smiling.


	2. Family Reunion

**Chapter 2: Family Reunion**

The sun gleamed through the window of Pacey's bedroom. He pulled the cover over his head to block out the sun, but it was too late. He sat upright in his bed, tired and grumpy. His eyes partly open, he looked over at calendar on the wall. The blue ink scribbled on today's date read 'Joey's 27th Birthday." This made Pacey smile. Ever since Joey and him got back together, his life has been filled with hope and happiness.

As he hopped out of bed, he sighed. He always seemed to wonder why she chose him over Dawson. Growing up, Pacey took the constant flirting and hormonal tension between them for love. Maybe times changed, he thought. Still, he always had this reoccurring nightmare of Joey leaving him again for Dawson.

Walking downstairs, Pacey decided to make his first official duty of the day to make coffee. But between going from the hallway to the kitchen, he heard the phone ring.

Pacey picked up the cordless. "Hello?"

"Hey man," came a tired man's voice form the other end.

Pacey recognized the voice. "Dawson?"

Dawson chuckled on the other end. "Long time, no see," Dawson finally said.

Dawson and Pacey hadn't seen each other since Gale was married six months ago. Part of this was Pacey's fault. He though if he and Joey got friendly again with Dawson, Joey's old feelings for him would come back.

"What's up?" Pacey said with a sigh.

"Not much. I had my meeting with Spielberg this morning."

"How is your movie going?"

"Good. Him and I are going to co-direct the movie version based on The Creek."

Pacey moved into the living room and fell back on the couch. "Sounds like fun"

"It is. So enough about me. How have you and Joey been?"

Pacey sighed. He didn't want to tell Dawson that their relationship was doing great. But lying would just make it worse.

"Good, I guess. I am still running the Ice House. Business is going good. Just same old, same old. Moved into an house close to the Ice House"

"And Joey?"

Knowing he couldn't get around it, he answered. "She bought an apartment down here and is taking classes at the local community college."

"The relationship must be going good if she moved from Boston back to Capeside."

Pacey didn't respond. He now regretted picking up the phone.

"Look, man, not to be rude, but we haven been on speaking terms lately. Is there a reason you called?" Pacey finally responded.

"Actually, there is. I am coming down to Capeside for a couple of weeks. I was going to come down for Joey's birthday, but my plane doesn't leave until tonight."

"Why the sudden visit?"

Now Dawson laughed. "To see all my old Capeside buddies!"

Pacey suspected there was another reason, but didn't ask.

"Hey that's great! Where are you staying?"

"With my mom, step dad, and Lily."

"Great. Look, I have to run," Pacey said. He wanted to call Joey and wish her happy birthday before she left for school. "But call me at your mom's house when you get there, ok?"

"Can do. And look, Pacey, I really just want to be friends again. Like old times?"

Pacey doubted it would be like old times, but he really wanted them to all be friends again.

"Ok Dawson. See ya"

"Bye"

Pacey hung up the phone, and then quickly dialed Joey.

She picked up. "Hello?"

"Happy birthday, babe."

Joey chuckled. "Thanks Pacey."

Pacey laughed. "Pacey who? This isn't Pacey."

Now Joey laughed. "Stop it." She couldn't help but giggle a little bit. "So what's up?"

"Not much. Guess who just called?"

"Who?" Joey responded.

"Dawson"

Joey sat down. She hadn't seen or talked to him in over six months.

"What did he want," she finally said.

"He is coming down for a couple of weeks."

"When?"

"He said he was leaving tonight, so he should be here tomorrow. He is staying with Gale and Lily."

"Wow," Joey gasped. Finally seeing Dawson again could ruin the relationship her and Pacey had been working so hard on.

"Yeah. My reaction exactly."

"Look," Joey said, "I got to run. "

"Are we still on for dinner tonight?" Pacey asked.

"Ahh, my birthday dinner."

"Yep. I'm closing down the Ice House so we can have it all to ourselves."

"Sounds like fun. Cannot wait. Meet you there at…?"

"I'll pick you up at your apartment at six?" Pacey asked.

"Ok," Joey responded.

"Bye. I love you."

"I love you," Joey said.

After they hung up, Pacey sat down. How were him and Joey going to handle seeing Dawson? All he knew was that he needed to maintain firm grip on her.


	3. Never Gone

**A/N:** Sorry I haven't done any of these "notes" before. I decided to bring Jen back because she was always one of my favorite characters. I wanted her to play a big role in my story. And, I know I am not the only one that was upset when she died. I might also be bringing back other characters.

In the reviews, everyone wants to be DJ story. I love the DJ combo, but like in the summary, a lot of new/old relationships are starting or coming back. Just keep reading!

**Chapter 3: Never Gone**

_(Scene: Jack/Doug/Jen's house.)_

"C'mon, Amy, you have to eat!"

Jen Lindley tried to feed her baby, but she wouldn't open her mouth.

"Here comes the train. Choo, choo!" Jen said anxiously. But it didn't work. Finally Jen gave up.

"Ok, Amy, lets see what daddy is up to"

Jen picked up Amy out of the high chair and brought her into the living room. Jack was sitting on the couch watching TV. Jen paused in the doorway and couldn't help but smile. She remembered when she was in New York and didn't have any friends. But after moving to Capeside, she met her best friend, Jack McPhee. She couldn't help but fight back a tear of thinking of how much he and Doug helped her after Amy's father abandoned her.

"Hey stranger," Jen said as she sat across from Jack on the floor. Amy crawled around in automatically found a toy to amuse herself with.

Jack turned to Jen. "Did she eat?" he asked.

"A little. At least she didn't spit any out like last night. That was such a mess!"

Jack rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"What?" she asked.

"Its just weird seeing you as a mother. I mean, I always thought you would be a good mother, but know…"

Jen picked up a pillow off the floor and threw it at him.

"Hey!" he said.

Jack threw the pillow back at Jen. She laughed a jumped on the couch and they started a pillow fight. They were interrupted by a man clearing their throat. They stopped to see Doug standing in the hallway watching them. They didn't notice it was 8 at night already, the usual time Doug got home.

Jack followed Doug into the kitchen and sat down on a stool near their island table. Doug opened the fridge and pulled out the orange juice, plopping the carton on the table. He closed the fridge and turned to Jack.

"So how was your day?" Jack asked.

Doug didn't answer. He opened orange juice carton, and drank straight from it. He stopped, put it down again, and put the lid on.

"Fine," he said.

Jen entered the room. She got a glare from Doug. It read that he wanted to just talk to Jack. She got the hint, and left.

Doug sat down at the stool next to Jack.

"Work was good. Not a lot of action today. Well, unless you count the rookie flushing my bosses badge down the toilet." Doug paused, firm smile on his face. Then, he burst out laughing.

At first, Jack was confused. He had rarely seen Doug express any kind of emotion. But Jack put that behind him and laughed along with him.

Doug stood up and Jack gave him a hug. It was moments like these he was thankful for Doug.

Pushing the stools back in, Jack said, "So did you know today was Joey's birthday?"

Doug looked at Jack. "My brother's girlfriend?" he responded.

"Yeah. I called and left a message on her cell. I guess Pacey and her are going out to dinner tonight."

"Well, I am glad they are having fun. So how is my brother these days?" Doug asked.

"Good," Jack responded. "I spoke to him on the phone tonight. After they go out to dinner, I guess they are coming over here. Nothing big. Just cake and presents for Joey."

"Why didn't you tell me? I didn't get her anything thing."

"Don't worry. Jen and I went shopping after he called. I picked her up something from us."

Doug gave a weak half smile. "Ok, because the last thing I want to do is insult my brother."

"And that's not even the best part," Jack added. "Guess whose coming tomorrow."

"Who?" Doug asked.

"Dawson."

Doug looked surprised. "I betcha Pacey will love that. Why is he coming now?"

"I guess to visit us all. He is coming for a couple of weeks."

"Ok" Doug said.

Doug started to walk upstairs. Jack followed. Once upstairs, they turned into there room. Doug sat on the bed, and laid down. He pretended to snore. Jack laughed and jumped on the bed. Doug sat up and gave Jack a look. Jack decided to back off. They were interrupted this time by Jen knocking on the door.

"Glad to see the two lovebirds having fun again, but I think someone is here," she said.

"Whose here?" Doug asked.

"I dunno," she answered. "Some woman in a SUV."

Jack and Doug stared at each other. The two of them went downstairs. Jen put Amy to bed in her crib, and went downstairs, too.

Jack opened the front door to see a tall blonde wearing sunglasses opening the trunk door of a green SUV.

"Can I help you?" Doug asked, stepping outside on the porch.

She pushed her sunglasses onto the top of her head. She didn't say anything. Suddenly, a shadow emerged from the other side of the vehicle. It was Dawson.

"Hey man!" Jack said, running out to meet him. Dawson and Jack hugged as another car pulled into the driveway. The doors opened and out came Joey and Pacey. They saw Dawson.

"Hey," Pacey said to Dawson as he and Joey walked over to everyone. "Early, aren't we?"

Dawson looked at Joey then Pacey. "I couldn't miss my best friend's birthday."

Joey looked stunned. "Glad you're here!" She finally said.

Doug and Jen sat down on the porch swing, while Jack, Dawson, Pacey, and Joey.

"Well," Dawson said. "I guess now is a good time to tell you why I am here."

He walked over to the blonde, putting his arm around her.

"This is my girlfriend, Lucy. We are engaged. And…we decided to get married here!"

There was silence. Everyone looked around at each other.

Finally Joey broke the silence, fainting into Pacey's arms.


	4. But Always Here

**A/N:** Sorry it took forever for an update…I have been UBER buy with end of the year school projects and studying for finals. But I have so much free time in the summer, so I will be able to write more.

Hope you enjoy and please review!

**Chapter 4: …But Always Here**

Joey opens her eyes and sits up. She feels cold and notices there is an icepack on her forehead. Looking around, she notices she must me in Amy's room due to the massive amounts of pink and baby supplies

"What happened?" She asked.

Jen puts Amy in her crib and turns to Joey who is sitting in a rocking chair.

"Well, you fainted when you saw Dawson and his bimbo fiancée." Jen responds.

Joey glances with a scowl at Jen. "So that wasn't a dream.

Joey gets up and walks to the window. Looking outside, she sees everyone is talking. Dawson is standing next to the porch, his arm around Lucy. Jack is on the porch swing, talking to Doug who is sitting on the porch railing. Pacey is sitting on the ground. He looks up at the window and sees Joey. They make eye contact. Joey smiles and waves. Dawson sees where Pacey is looking and looks at Joey too. Joey then glances away as she walks back to the chair,

"I can't believe he is engaged!" Joey says, glancing at Jen.

Jen holds Joey's hand. They all knew in the back of their mind that Joey fainting reconfirmed her feelings for Dawson. Jen always knew she like Pacey too, but both him and Joey always seemed to be permanently rebounded.

"I'm here if you need to talk," Jen said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

Joey nodded. "Why don't we go outside? I haven't talked to you guys in forever."

Joey sits up, and begins to walk out of the room. She walks through the door, places her hand on the wall, and turns to Jen. A tear rolls down her face. She finally turns around and walks down the stairs.

Jen looks at Amy. She grabs one of the baby monitors, and turns the other one on and puts it next to her daughter's crib. She sighs and leaves the room to let Amy nap.

Once outside, Jen sits next to Doug and Jack on the porch swing. She notices Joey is sitting next to Pacey on the grass.

Dawson looks at Joey. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Joey responds, leaning in closer to Pacey. She seemed to be giving Dawson the impression she has a man to take care of her.

No one is talking anymore, but Pacey breaks the silence.

"So when are you guys getting married?"

Dawson takes a sip from his coffee. "Well, in about a month or so. W wanted to set a date once we got here."

Another silence. Everyone looked at each other. They couldn't believe that one of there own was getting married.

Jack stood up, brushing the dirt form the swing off his back.

"Well, I think its time…don't you…?" He said as he looked at Doug.

Doug nodded and stood up. Everyone else looked at him at began to go inside the house. Pacey and Joey.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Just a little surprise we planned for you, Pacey said. He took Joeys hand and they walked up the porch. He stopped before they entered the door.

"Look," he said, "Are you ok?"

Joey looked into his eyes. She saw concern and love. She new that nobody loved her more than he did and she didn't want to hurt him.

"I'm just tired," she said. "I have been really busy lately with college and stuff and…"

"Ok," Pacey said, cutting her off. "Then I guess this isn't a good time to ask you…"

"Ask me what?" she said.

Pacey looked at her again.

"I love you, Joey Potter. More than anything and you know that. And obviously you love me too because you left Worthington to move to come back here and end up going to a local community college. I know you loved Worthington. And the apartment you live in is right down the street from my house so you can be with me. But I bought the house…for us. So maybe…"

"Maybe what?" she asked.

"Maybe you can move in with me?"

She smiled. "I'd love that," she said. She put her arms around Pacey and kissed.

"So was that my surprise?" She said after letting go

"Nope."

Pacey opened the door to show the whole gang in the front room. There were balloons and streamers everywhere. Jack came through the kitchen door holding a cake. Everyone began to sing happy birthday when Jack tripped on the hall rug and the cake went all over.

"Oh my gosh!" Jen said going to help Jack up. She grabbed his arm and he tried to wipe the cake off of himself.

"Joey, I'm so sorry. I mean…"

"It's ok," Joey said. "It was an accident."

Everyone began to clean up the cake. Once it was all cleaned up, Pacey stood up.

"Well, I'm not going to let this night be ruined. I'm sure there is a bar open somewhere."

They all agreed. Pacey and Joey drove with Dawson and Lucy. Doug and Jack took his police car. Jen stayed home to be with Amy.

Jen took the baby monitor into the living room as she sat on the couch and turned on the TV.

"Well, I guess it just me and you," she said, glancing at the baby monitor.


End file.
